Dee Findlay ended 2017 with an item from her bucket list: She burned more than $10,000 worth of Scientology materials that she had bought on an impulse back in 2010.
Dee is a well known figure here at the Underground Bunker. She’s been celebrated for her memorable address to the Clearwater City Council regarding a controversial land purchase that the Church of Scientology wanted to get its mitts on. She’s been outspoken about her work as an OSA volunteer in the 1980s, helping the church spy on local officials, and she regrets being pulled back into the organization temporarily in 2010.
But she still had a huge pile of books and lectures sitting around from that brief return, and she wanted to get rid of it.
“It was well over $10,000 I paid. And I didn’t know what I was going to do with it all. Most of them were never opened,” she says. She knew she didn’t want to throw it in a dumpster. “I didn’t want the responsibility of anyone else going near any of that stuff. So that’s what I had on my bucket list — a bonfire.”
As the end of the year approached, she mentioned it to her friends Deb and Dick Maxwell, who have become known for their activism at Scientology’s Clearwater buildings.
“I became friends with them. I showed them what I had, and they offered to do it. They brought a trailer,” she says. And they took the pile of books to a place where they knew they could burn it without breaking the law — behind the church the Maxwells belong to.
“It’s in the country, and they knew they were allowed to do it. There was no problem with having the fire there,” Dee says.
Before lighting the pile, they carefully separated out plastic binders and other items to throw in a recycling bin. And then they lit what was left.
The Maxwells took photos and shot a video….
“God bless those people for helping me,” Dee says.
Now, however, the pastor at the church where the fire occurred, and where the Maxwells are members, has received a letter of complaint from the Church of Scientology’s Pat Harney, a Sea Org member who works for Scientology’s secret police and PR squad, the Office of Special Affairs.
It’s a very entertaining letter, and a classic of its kind, right out of the L. Ron Hubbard playbook. Harney writes to Pastor Bill Strayer of the Calvary Chapel Worship Center in New Port Richey, trying to get the Maxwells in trouble for the fire.
We told the Maxwells we loved the detail about the Nazis burning books “by Jewish authors.” Scientology never tires of trying to compare its plight to the Holocaust. “They are entertaining, to say the least,” Dick told us. “And we love Dee!”
“I’m jealous. I didn’t get a letter!” Dee responded.
Here’s the letter. We knew you’d get a kick out of it…
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Make your plans now!
HOWDYCON UPDATE
Wow, we’re now less than two months out, and Chee Chalker is working hard to make sure things are going to run smoothly at this year’s HowdyCon in Chicago, June 21-23. As in past years, we’re looking forward to meeting readers of the Bunker, culminating in Saturday night’s main event.
The biggest difference this year is that our Saturday night event is separate from that evening’s dinner. Chee is setting up an inexpensive pizza dinner that you don’t need to pay for ahead of time, after which we’ll walk over to the theater where our event, hosted by Chicago Fire star Christian Stolte, will take place. Because it’s a separate event, we’re asking that you pay $10 each to get into the Saturday night event, which will help us recoup what the Bunker paid for the venue. (We have never made a penny on our HowdyCon meetups, we only try to break even.)
Please email your proprietor (tonyo94 AT gmail) in order to reserve your spot for Saturday night’s main event. Seating is limited, and we’re going to have some really interesting people on stage and they may make a few announcements that you don’t want to miss.
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,101 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 1,704 days
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 247 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,310 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,084 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 2,858 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,204 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,698 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 1,738 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,450 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 976 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,065 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,205 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,525 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,500 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 856 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,158 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,264 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 1,667 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,539 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,121 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 1,626 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 1,870 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 12,979 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 1, 2018 at 07:00
E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2017 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2017), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news
